the hills area of Nepal (Shrestha et al. 2002). The study sites comprises an area around
homestead where crops (maize), vegetables, fruits, medicinal, spices, fodder, livestock and
other plant species are grown on the same land units in a spatial and temporal sequence.
The maintenance and management of activities in home garden are highly gender based
and women are mostly responsible for home garden. Similarly, in Nepal's context women
occupy an important place in terms of management and sharing of benefits from home
garden, as they are involved in providing foods for household. Gender roles however depend
upon the type and component of home garden too by brining new plant species from
parental home (Subedi et. al 2003a and Shrestha et al. 2002). Different genders in the
households have different roles and objectives. Gender tasks, needs, interests and
responsibilities in agriculture; usually differ by sex and from one household to another. In
most societies, men and women differ in the activities they undertake, in access and control
over resources, and in participation in decision-making. Experience indicates that in many
parts of the Nepal, resources, opportunities and decision-making possibilities are less
available to women than men.
Women’s particular responsibility for the management of home gardens has been
extensively documented in other parts of the world (Boncodin and Vega, 1999 in LI-BIRD
and IPGRI, 2002). It has been observed that in the hill and mountain regions of Nepal,
women play an important role in the management as well as benefit sharing from home
gardens, due to their responsibility in ensuring household food security. The gender role,
however, also depend on the ethnic and cultural background as in the terai community
where men have been found to play an equally important role in the management and
introduction of new diversity in the home gardens (Subedi, et al., 2003a). However, indepth
understanding of the importance and influence of gender to the management of home
gardens is lacking. Therefore, an analysis of the gender dimension, decision-making process
and benefit- sharing in home garden is essential. A study was done in Rupandehi and Gulmi
districts to identify the gender roles and decision making on management and benefit
sharing from home garden among different categories of farmers in each site.
METHODS
For gathering the required information following methods were followed.
Literature Review
Before conducting the study, an activity protocol was prepared to understand the nature of
the study and concept about the gender. During the time of protocol preparations different
relevant literatures on gender roles and decision-making were reviewed. After the protocol
development, checklist was prepared for the study in consultation with project staff.
Focus Group Discussions
The study was conducted separately on three categories of economic endowments
(Category A for resource rich farmers, B for resource medium farmers and C for resource
poor farmers) in Gulmi and in case of Rupandehi farmers were also categorised into two
ethnic groups i.e. indigenous (Chaudhary) and migrants (Pahadia, migrated mostly from mid
hills of the country) Farmers were categorised on the basis of farmers’ own criteria in each
sites through wealth ranking. At the time of Focus Group Discussions different activities and
components of home gardens were listed and different gender analysis tools were used for
accessing the gender role and benefit from the management of home gardens as follows:
Activity Analysis
One of the most important components of the gender analysis framework is the activity
analysis. It was used for analysis of division of labour and decision making role in home